Serendipity
by Negative Space Squint
Summary: My take on how Lois and Clark should evolve. Set in season 8; all true to show until Turbulence. Switches between Lois and Clark POV, but mainly Lois.
1. Prologue

This is my first Smallville fic -- I plan on making it multichaptered; basically just my take on how Lois and Clark should evolve. True to the show up to Turbulence (though it starts with the events after Infamous), but it will change from the season after that. Rating for language.

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"_We don't have to overanalyze anything now. I'm gonna work off my jet lag later on tonight at the café. You wanna come by for a coffee cool, if not, let's just say I get it."_

Looking at the text that had just popped up on her phone, Lois could say with complete certainty that she _did_ get it.

**Sorry swamped with work, can't make it.**

Yes, she absolutely got it. Who was she kidding? Just because Lana was out of his life didn't mean that she was out of his heart. Shaking her head slightly, she began to text.

Sitting there with only her melancholy for company, she could have sworn she heard a familiar _beep_ a few feet behind her. She turned slowly, but was not surprised to see an empty street behind her.

Three blocks away, he took out his phone again and stared at the lie on the screen.

**Chasing a lead, couldn't make it anyway.**

He contemplated watching to see how long she would sit there. How much damage he had done.

"_No! Somebody… please… help!!"_

He sped away to stop the mugging that was taking place exactly three miles away.

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Good? Bad? Reviews are love :D

Expect next chapter either very late tonight or early tomorrow morning.


	2. Headlock

**Hey everyone... first of all, I want to thank Lavender and Booth-is-my-Angel for reviewing the prologue despite its length :D Without those reviews, this chapter probably would not have been posted! Thanks again!**

**A few things about my writing style: thoughts are in italic and anything electronic (ie a text or short bit of text on a computer) is bolded. That's it, really :D**

**Without further adieu, chapter 1!**She woke up the next morning at precisely 7:09. She arrived at work at 8:13, keeping her eyes straight forward as everyone in the bullpen eyed her furtively. Everyone knew that Lois Lane had not been late for work since… ever.

* * *

She sat at her desk, sighed, logged on to her computer, and flicked her eyes up to see everyone guiltily scurrying back to their computers. Typical.

She was acutely aware of his presence at the coffeemaker, and the stiff way he carried himself while replacing the filter made it clear that he was conscious of her entrance as well. She willed herself not to say the first word as he slowly came over to their desks, a coffee cup in hand. Keys clicked noisily under her fingers, bearing an echo of her accelerated and only slightly less sporadic heartbeat.

"Morning, Lois," he said carefully. She looked up at him to see his guilt-ridden baby blues more guarded than they had ever been before.

"Hey, Smallville. That for me? Great," she replied, smiling.

_See? Nothing happened. I didn't show either. Nothing for you to feel guilty about._

"You're welcome," he said, smiling in spite of himself. She smirked over the styrofoam cup.

There were a few more minutes of ambiguously awkward silence, save for the clicking of mice and clacking of keys before he cleared his throat and began to speak.

"So, good lead last night?" he asked, failing at his attempt to sound nonchalant.

"Great lead. Get done with all that work you had to do?" she quipped, keeping the hardness out of her voice with difficulty. And accusation hovered in the air between them.

"Yep. Didn't get home until two."

He yawned hugely as further evidence.

"Great. Good. Awesome."

_Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

"Yep."

Click. Click. Click.

"Lois…"

"Let's just forget about it, Smallville. Okay?" she asked, looking him in the eye. His expression was unreadable.

"Okay," he said finally.

"Good! So apparently Jimmy's coming to Met. Gen. in a week," Lois started.

"Really? That's great!" Clark replied, awkwardness seeping slowly out of his voice.

And just like that, they were back to normal… sort of. Lois wasn't going to deny that she still had feelings for him, but it was just so much easier to admit it when she knew that nothing would come of it. Everyone hates uncertainty, and Lois Lane was no exception. Feelings were only scary, she reflected, when you didn't know how the other person felt about you. The hard part was over, wasn't it? Now all she had to do was wait for that blessed moment when she fell out of love with him.

During her cathartic consumption of two pints of her favorite Ben & Jerry's (Phish Food, thank you very much) the night before, she had reflected that it was really better this way. She must have imagined a hundred different ways the night would have ended if he _had_ shown, and they all had one thing in common: her being nothing but a rebound. And Lois Lane was NO rebound.

"Lois? You there?"

Her feministic musings were cut short by the subject of them. He had his quizzical face on – eyebrows pulled together and slightly up, eyes questioning, lips pouting just the tiniest bit.

"Yeah, Smallville. Just thinking. So, what are you buying me for lunch? 'Cause I am _starving,_" Lois said hastily, digging through the stack of delivery menus in the second drawer of her desk. Clark rolled his eyes and muttered something about inhuman metabolism under his breath.

"What was that?" Lois asked, looking up from Menu Mountain.

"Nothing…" he replied innocently, a smile on his face.

_See? This is better. Everything is back to normal,_ said her head.

Her heart retaliated with a stubborn, painful throb.

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**So? Better or worse than the prologue? Just so everyone knows, this entire fic will NOT be one giant angst-fest. Some happiness will come into it, I promise! Also, three free internets to anyone who can guess what artist does the song that this chapter is named after. (Coincidentally, all of my chapters will be named after a song I find especially fitting with the theme of the chapter :D)**

**R E V I E W P L E A S E ! !**


	3. Beautiful Lie

**Hi again! First of all, I want to thank everyone who reviewed - it's so nice to open my inbox and see something other than facebook clogging it up XD**

**I tried to make the dialogue between Clark and Lois as realistic as possible, and also keeping Tess in character (if I even did!) was difficult for me. I love Tess now, especially after Turbulence, but I have to admit getting into her head isn't as easy as it could be. Constructive criticism about that would be very much appreciated! (Shameless subliminal review-begging, this early in the fic? Gasp!)**

**Lastly, I just want to give a shout-out to Lavender, who correctly guessed that the name of the previous chapter (Headlock) was by Imogen Heap. (Who is amazing.) Can anyone tell me who does the song Beautiful Lie that inspired this chapter? ^_~ Alright, enough rambling. Read away!**

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Their journey to familiar, snarky normalcy was slow at first – they conversed as they used to, and as the days went by, the awkward pauses and lulls in their arguments of which Chinese place was better ("Have you even _tasted_ Wong Foo's eggrolls?" "You didn't give me a chance last time we ordered from there! We're getting Happy Panda so you won't eat it all again!") and rather one-sided musings about the Red-Blue Blur ("Do you think he ever gets cold? I mean, that jacket _can't_ be very warm… Smallville? Are your shoes really that fascinating?") became less and less frequent.

A week after she had gotten back, Tess called Lois into her office with a terse, "Lane. Meeting. Now."

Clark cocked his head to one side and Lois shrugged before following their new boss into her office.

"What's up, Tess?" she asked matter-of-factly.

"What's up is that you've got a new story – you're going to cover those fires in Star City this weekend. The hotel's already paid for," Tess explained, shuffling through a stack of file folders on her desk.

"What? I just got back from Star City! You might have noticed a Lois-shaped empty space at my desk for the past month… besides, I really don't think-"

"Doesn't matter, Lane. The Planet needs its best reporter on this story – these fires have been getting worse and worse for two months now, and nobody can figure out the connection. They all only have one thing in common – exactly four people die in each one. I'll even let you open the mini-bar this time," said Tess, grinning a bit.

Lois sighed.

"Why can't Clark go? He hasn't had a story for a while – you've been sticking him on obit. duty and wedding announcements for weeks and I'm pretty sure he could use a break," she said carefully.

_Why? Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone? Couldn't you just leave him out of this?_ An irritated voice in the back of her head growled.

"As nice and weird as it is for you to be advocating Clark, he has something else he's doing – we're taking Oliver's jet to a press conference in New York."

"_We're?"_

Tess looked up from her desk and raised an eyebrow at the incredulous accusation in Lois' voice.

"Bit touchy there, Lois?"

"I… I didn't… I mean… Look, it's not like I-"

Tess grinned. "Calm down, Lois. It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to see that you've got the hots for Clark."

_GOOD JOB, SELF._

"I do not!!" Lois protested, feeling herself blush. What the hell? Lois Lane does NOT blush. About anything. Ever.

"Don't worry. He thinks you're over it. It's Clark. He's completely oblivious," Tess reassured her.

After a moment of an internal struggle involving her running through the pros and cons of vehemently denying any type of romantic interest in Clark and deciding that even in her head, her objections sounded half-hearted and feeble, Lois asked quietly, "are you sure?"

"Yep. And I promise I won't tell him. I figure I owe you one for doing your ex," Tess replied nonchalantly.

In all honesty, Lois had never even thought of that. She was aware that Oliver and Tess had a thing, but it didn't register in her thoughts until after Tess mentioned it that she should have any hard feelings about it.

"Just don't say anything to Smallville," Lois warned.

"Same goes to you about this press conference – I want to be the one to tell him," Tess conceded ambiguously.

Lois' eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "Why?"

"I just have a few questions I need to ask of Mr. Kent while we're on the plane – you know he has a habit of changing the subject and rushing away when you ask him anything about himself," Tess replied.

It cheered Lois to hear that she was not the only person that noticed these details about the facets of Clark Kent's personality. Maybe she wasn't pathetic – maybe she was just observant, like Tess.

"Deal. Can I go?" Lois asked, feeling an odd sense of camaraderie with her boss. Since when did they become friends?

"Sure. Go argue with Clark about lunch or whatever it is you two are on about today," said Tess, smirking. Lois smiled and thanked her before marching back out to the bullpen.

*

"What was that about?" Clark asked curiously as Lois plopped back down on her desk and began to type.

"I'm going to Star City this weekend – I got the fire story," she explained.

"Star City? Again? You just got back!" he argued, looking confused.

"…And?"

"I just assumed that you wouldn't want to go again after just getting back, is all," Clark said innocently.

"It'll be worth it. I actually get to open the mini-bar this time," Lois said, grinning.

"Don't you always open the mini-bar?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah, but at least this time I have permission. It's a pain in the ass to refill all those tiny bottles with shampoo in the morning."

Clark rolled his eyes.

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**Good? Bad? So-so? Please let me know! Also, just a heads-up, this week might be a bit crazy for me with schoolwork, but I expect to get chapter 3 up at the end of the week at the latest. I have to say that I'm looking forward to writing Lois' reaction to seeing that Clark was in a plane crash :D Even if he DID survive it. Also, expect to see some jealous/angsty Clark and vengeful/conniving Lois soon ^_^ I love messing with my characters' heads.**

**Free internets to anyone who can guess where I stole the title of one of the Chinese restaurants in the beginning from. :D Although I have an idea of who's going to win this one.**

**Lois would review... and deep down, don't we ALL secretly want to be Lois? Ah Chloe, you are not alone.**


	4. Starlight

**Hi again! Before you all bite my heads off, I don't plan on future chapters ever being as short as this. Or at least, not any shorter. I'm just pressed for time and I figured that a short update was better than a long update... a week from now. :)**

**Kudos to Lavendar for guessing that 30 Seconds to Mars was last chapter's title artist. Kudos also go to Booth-Is-My-Angel for the correct identification of Wong Foo's being from season one of Bones. Ah, Sid. We miss you!**

**I just realized that I never put a disclaimer on this... will my tears and shaking my fist at the heavens, yelling "EIGHT WHOLE SEASONS? YOU COULDN'T GET RID OF HER SOONER??" suffice?**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

Lois sighed, letting the empty mini-bottle of vodka fall to the floor with a soft thud. She looked over at the generic clock that read 2:31 am and threw her head back against the pillows. She hadn't planned on this being a night of angst and pining – but she had started off the night (of course after her getting her interviews; Lois Lane was nothing if not productive) by stopping into a local bar. True, it was no Talon, but enough for a good sloshing.

It wasn't that Lois didn't like getting hit on. In fact, she loved it. There was a very small range of attention she liked better than _that_ kind. But, after throwing back more Cosmos than she cared to count and informing guy after guy that she "just got out of a really bad relationship," her determined (verging on feral) optimism successfully faded.

A tiny voice in the back of her mind informed her that she was more than a little drunk and advised that it would be prudent to stumble on back to her room, because the pity party had started whether she liked it or not, and crying should not be a spectator sport.

Four hours, sixteen empty mini-bottles, and two sappy $15 chick flicks later (she had thrown a freshly drained bottle of rum at the TV halfway through The Notebook, crying "IT DOESN'T HAPPEN LIKE THAT!!", and slipped in and out of consciousness for the duration of A Walk to Remember), she was vaguely aware that she was completely tanked and even more completely not over Clark.

A drunken Lois was an angry, waspish, mournful Lois. It was in her exceptionally inebriated mind that a plan began to form, something that she was sure would both a) make Clark feel the same pain she had gone through and continued to go through because he was stupid and oblivious and _damn_ he had looked good in those jeans on Friday, and b) make him fall for her so hard that his pining for bitch what's-her-face-Lana would seem laughable.

She started to giggle in the darkness of her room before promptly passing out.

*

The plane ride back to Metropolis was miserable at best. Her horrific headache had dissipated slightly to just a blindingly dull throbbing while she was waiting for security to check her and her bags (the metal detector going off right by her ear was the cherry on top of a _perfect_ weekend). She attempted to fall asleep on the plane (_window seat! Score! This would rock if the phrase fuck my life would just stop running through my head!_) but, surprise surprise, the sun was shining right into her eyes and very possibly burning her retinas.

While fighting with the window curtain on the plane, she suddenly remembered her plan from the gin-soaked night before. She had just managed to get the curtain to stay and sighed contentedly.

_I was drunk… I can't toy with Smallville like that…_

_Well. I can. But I shouldn't._

_Shouldn't… but could._

_Very easily._

The wheels of the plane touched down as a smile began to form on Lois' face.

*

Lois threw her keys on the counter and, out of habit, clicked the "voicemail" button on her phone. She began to rifle through her mail as the robotic voice said "You have ONE new message. New message:-"

Clark's voice resonated through her apartment, sounding a little higher than usual and somewhat guilty.

"Hey, Lois. It's Clark. I'm pretty sure you'd beat me if you opened the paper tomorrow and saw that I survived a plane crash before I could tell you, so I just figured that I would leave you a message. Hope Star City was fun. Okay. Bye."

The stack of mail fell to the floor.

"…YOU SURVIVED A PLANE CRASH?!" she yelled at her phone. Her finger was on the number one for speedial (what? She had to call him a lot for work. That was what she had told Chloe, anyway) when Chloe's name popped up on the screen and her phone began to vibrate.

"Hey Chlo, what's up?" she asked after calming her breathing down.

"Lois…?" Chloe asked, after a few seconds. Her voice was thick with tears.

"Chloe, what happened?"

"It's Jimmy and I. We… we broke up," Chloe responded, her voice just above a whisper.

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**I figured this would be a good place to end it. Things to look forward to in the next chapter: Lois' reaction of Chimmy breaking up, the introduction of Richard, jealous Clark, and a possible working-in of the events of Hex. Speaking of, who's excited? After seeing some of the pics from the image gallery, all I can say is that I'm certainly looking forward to Oliver being... ahem... "all tied up." :D**

**Anyone care to guess this chapter's title artist?**

**Review pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease! ^_^**


	5. Hide and Seek

**Hi everyone! I first just want to apologize again for the pathetically short last chapter that I posted - I just had a lot going on this weekend and I wasn't sure if I would have enough time to get anything written. Lucky for me, my muse decided to get off her ass and inspire already :D This chapter is a bit longer than I usually post, but I'm hoping to make this my usual standard soon. Also, I would like to apologize for the incredible amount of angst in this chapter. What can I say? We live in angsty times, my friends! Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! I actually had a lot of fun writing it.**

**Kudos to Lavender (again, lol) for correctly identifying the song Starlight as by Muse. Honorable mention to IceQueen825 for guessing as well! Once again, I would love if someone could identify this chapter's song. (And it really shouldn't be all that difficult - this chapter's song is more about the Chimmy breakup than the angst-fest that is Clois, currently).**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

"You broke up?" Lois asked blankly. She could hear Chloe nodding in the silence from the other end.

"But… how? You're _Chloe _and _Jimmy!_" Lois asked blankly. Chloe attempted to answer but wasn't able to get through a sentence without crying.

"Okay, okay, okay… you're going to come over so we can have a girl's night. You bring the tissues – I'll run out and get some ice cream and Doritos," Lois said, cutting Chloe off mid-whimper.

"Lois, I d-don't know…" she replied.

"Chloe. You know better than to argue with a Lane!"

Chloe gave a wet chuckle and hung up, proclaiming, "fine. You w-w-win. I'll be over in half an hour."

Lois hesitated for a few seconds before calling for reinforcements. He picked up on the first ring.

"Okay, before you say anything, I'm fine and at least I called you before you found out courtesy of tomorrow's edition and I really don't think-"

"Smallville, I need you over at my place in 20 minutes. I don't care if you have to go at the speed of sound, just get your butt over here!" Lois interrupted, smiling in spite of herself.

"…Why?" Clark asked finally.

"Didn't Chloe tell you?"

"She called me, but I was kinda falling out of an airplane at the time…"

"She and Jimmy broke up. She just told me, and she's going to be over here in half an hour. And we both know that I SUCK at this whole consoling thing. So I need you here, now!"

"Okay. I'll be there in a minute."

"A minute? Aren't you at the farm?" Lois asked, confused. There was an uncomfortable silence on his end.

"No, I'm actually right around the corner. I had to talk to Tess after what happened yesterday."

"Tess was there?" she asked innocently. She had kept her word and not told Clark anything about the press conference… and in all honesty, she hadn't even thought of Tess being in the plane crash as well.

"Yeah. I'll tell you about it when I get to your place."

"Well you'd better hurry, Sma-"

She was interrupted by a loud, deliberate knock on her door.

"Hold on, Smallville," she said, "there's someone at my-"

He was standing in the hallway, grinning.

"Told you I was right around the corner!" he said as he passed her and stood awkwardly in her kitchen. Lois turned around, clicked off her phone, hung it in the receiver, and sighed very slowly before turning to face him.

"So. A plane crash?" she asked expectantly.

"Yeah… that…" he muttered, scratching the back of his head while laughing. He was exuding an extraordinary amount of awkward, even for _Clark._

"Spit it out, Smallville!" she warned, taking slow, dangerous steps towards him.

"Lois, it really isn't all that bad…" he started, taking three or four hasty steps back. She continued to converge on him, her temper flaring.

"_Not that bad??_" she screeched, irrationally angry. A tiny little voice in the back of her mind primly reminded her that Chloe would be there soon, so it would be best to get all of this anger out now…

"Lois, calm down…" Clark tried. Lois narrowed her eyes. They were now only about a foot apart, and she still seemed to be coming closer, though her feet didn't move.

"Calm _down_? I leave you alone for TWO DAYS and you're literally falling out of the sky!! Do you have _any idea-!"_

"Lois, I don't see why you're getting so upset… I mean, we made it out – I found a parachute. We're both fine!" Clark pleaded.

_You want to know why I'm so upset?? Because you're constantly in some sort of danger and I can't do anything about it. And you have no idea why! You leave me one little message that clearly says you don't give a rat's ass and these goddamn feelings won't go away! That's why!_

Lois came out of her internal rant and found herself less than six inches away from Clark, his blue eyes confused and… a little scared?

She was acutely aware of their proximity, but didn't back down. Clark squirmed uncomfortably.

_Good._

She had an entire verbal attack all planned out nice and neat in her head, one that would leave him reduced to a quivering shadow of a Kent, pushed up against her wall.

Instead of that clean-cut assault, what came out was a very soft-spoken, "I just get worried about you, Clark. It seems like you're never safe."

_What the hell?!_ Lois screamed inside her head. That wasn't what she was going to say, dammit!

She took a few steps back. She wasn't able to force herself to meet his eyes. The interminable silence between them grew and grew until it filled the room, and nothing could break the unbelievably awkwardness.

_Step one: choose spot on floor. Step two: stare._

"Lois, I-"

A loud rapping on the door interrupted his soft reply to her outburst, making them both jump a mile in the air. Lois shot him a look that clearly said "don't say a WORD" to Clark, to which he shot a look that said "we're not done talking about this" with equal clarification.

Chloe stood in the hallway, sniffling and carrying a CVS bag with five or six boxes of tissues inside. Her face was blotchier than Lois had ever seen it before (including that time when they were seven and Lois had accidently spilled ice cream on a page of _Tales of the Weird & Unexplained_), her hair was sticking up at random angles on the back of her head, and there was an unappealing crust of dried mucus around her nostrils.

"Oh, Chloe…" Lois whispered, pulling her cousin into a hug, her aggression with Clark fading into the back of her mind. She pulled Chloe into her apartment awkwardly, as they were still locked in a hug.

"Clark?" Chloe asked thickly, seeing him over Lois' shoulder. Lois passed Chloe onto Clark, her eyes full of sympathy.

"Chloe," was all he said, letting her bury her face into his chest, her tears staining his bright blue shirt. They stood in the foyer for a moment and Lois suddenly felt as though she was intruding. She wordlessly stole to her room to change – changing provided a nice distraction from the tangible sense of despair that flooded her foyer. She could feel it creeping from room to room in her apartment.

She emerged from her room in a tank top and pajama bottoms, making as much noise as she could. When Clark and Chloe came back into view, they were both looking expectantly at Lois. One of Clark's eyebrows rose at Lois' change in wardrobe. She ignored him.

"Alright, this can't be a proper pity party without ice cream and movies. Smallville, you'll just have to deal with the chick flicks," she said, striding over to the freezer to get out the Ben & Jerry's.

Clark rolled his eyes.

The three of them squished on the couch under a blanket as the opening credits for _Miss Congeniality_ (a personal favorite of Lois', though she would never admit it – she claimed that her college roommate must have left it in her DVD collection and never bothered to get it back), Lois and Clark on either side of a still-sniffling Chloe.

"Alright, now that we're all settled… what happened?" Lois asked, turning the movie down so that it was just background noise. Chloe sighed shakily and began to speak.

*

"…I'm gonna kill him," Lois said matter-of-factly. Chloe had fallen asleep between Clark and her almost immediately after relaying her breakup to them, and no wonder – she hadn't slept in almost 36 hours. The ending credits scrolled down the screen in the darkness.

Clark sighed.

"No, you're not."

"Why shouldn't I?" Lois asked indignantly. "Don't act like you don't want to rip his throat out with your bare hands too!"

Clark was silent for a moment, and then sighed again.

"Yes, I am angry with Jimmy, but I don't want to _kill_ him. I'm sure they'll make it through this," Clark said confidently. Lois made an angry "tuh" sound under her breath.

"What?" Clark asked, annoyed.

Lois turned to face him, shaking her head slightly. "You're just so determined to have everything work out – part of that whole seeing the good in everyone thing, I guess. Well, I've got news for you, farmboy. I've known Jimmy for a while now and I've known Chloe even longer than you. You saw how upset she was earlier. Look at that mountain of tissues that's slowly covering my coffee table in snot-tears and honestly tell me that you still think Chloe can make back to that white-picket-fence, Mr-and-Mrs-matching-pink-and-blue-towels future that she wanted with Jimmy."

Clark opened his mouth for rebuttal, but closed it after a few seconds of silence.

"That's what I thought. I'm going to kill him," she repeated.

"Lois, it's really not entirely Jimmy's fault. There are two sides to every story."

Lois turned to look at him in disbelief.

"You're kidding me, right? Chloe is your _best friend_. Do you seriously think there's something she didn't tell us?"

"No, that's not it. It's just that I can kind of see Jimmy's point."

"_What point?!_" Lois nearly shouted. Chloe mumbled in her sleep and budged slightly, her head shifting from on top of Clark's shoulder to on top of Lois'. Clark waited until Chloe softly started to snore again before defending himself.

"It's just that… well, Jimmy's right about one thing – he's never exactly been number one in Chloe's life."

"What are you _talking_ about? She married him!"

"Yeah, and I'm sure she loves him just as much as he loves her. But, from what I can tell of her story, she believed Davis over her own husband. That doesn't exactly scream loyalty."

Lois shook her head in the darkness.

"Sometimes I just can't believe you, Smallville."

Clark chose to not say anything. They sat there like that for what seemed like hours, each annoyed with the other, a slumbering blonde between them. Lois' temper was just going down again when Clark cleared his throat awkwardly and began, "Lois, about that plane crash…"

"You know what, Clark? Forget I said anything. You have your own life and I shouldn't be as involved as I am. Now help me get Chloe into bed, will you?" she replied, standing up and pulling the blanket off her cousin. Clark sighed and picked Chloe up bridal-style.

"Lois, I think we need to talk about this," he replied, his voice taking on that frustrating commanding quality.

"You know what? You made it quite clear that we don't," she hissed as Clark carried Chloe into Lois' bedroom. It was a mess, of course – clothes littered the floor and crumpled balls of paper filled her trash can to the brim, with a few scattered around the floor as well.

"God Lois, do you _ever_ clean?" he whispered in annoyance. Lois smirked out of spite. Clark put Chloe down gently and Lois pulled the covers over her so only her head showed. They left the room and Lois closed the door quietly.

"Now, what did you mean by 'you made it clear that we don't,'" Clark asked.

"I shouldn't have to explain it to you. If you can't figure it out, I'm not telling you," she replied sourly. Lois was tired now and wanted nothing more than to pass out on her couch and forget about the day.

"Lois, what are you _talking_ about?" Clark asked, exasperated.

"'_Hope Star City was fun?'_" she quoted, sarcasm evident in her voice.

The confused look on Clark's face was all Lois needed to break.

"Clark, just get out. I don't want to deal with this right now," she said, her voice deadly. Clark stood there for a moment before striding over to the door and turned around, that heartbreaking puppy-dog look on his face.

"Just go," she said tiredly.

He left without another word.

*

As Lois faded into unconsciousness on her couch, all she could think of was how much she wanted to hurt Clark as badly as he had hurt her. A single tear, more out of rage than sadness, fell down her cheek.

* * *

***hides* I swear I didn't mean for it to be that angsty!!! **

**One of my most faithful reviewers, Booth-Is-My-Angel, mentioned that Hex could fit very well into my fic, and I plan to take her advice and write it into Serendipity, because I agree that it fits my storyline pretty well. Speaking of Hex, who else yelled "NO!!!!" at their TV when Lois said "so you can stand me up again?" to Clark? It was going so well before that!!!!!! And the look on his face when she said that she had a date... oh, Clark. 3.**

**Although I'm not going to lie, I'm glad their getting to the original Superman storyline with Clark being the one pining instead of Lois. I just hope her affection for him doesn't go away completely.**

**Enough of my episode commentary :D Please review! The next chapter (Hex) should be up sometime early this week.**


	6. The Walk

**First of all, let me just say I'm so sorry for this being so late! I'm on my spring break for school now, and I was just trying to tie up some loose ends concerning my grades last week. Second of all, I'd like to apologize for the length of this chapter -- I had another scene planned for it, but I knew that unless I posted this today and just shoved the scene to the next chapter, it would be another couple of days before you guys got this chapter! Next chapter will be longer, I promise! **

**Kudos go to Ella for guessing that "Hide and Seek" is by Imogen Heap :D The week's chapter song is one of my absolute favorites; I just love the sound of it and the lyrics ^_^ perfect mesh.**

**Happy reading! Sorry if it seems a bit fragmented; I'm not especially proud of this chapter...**

* * *

Lois cracked an eye open unwillingly to see her coffee table no longer covered with tissues. The smell of bacon pervaded the air, drawing her up into a sitting position.

"Morning, Lois!" Chloe said brightly from behind her. Lois turned around so quickly that she got a crick in her neck. Massaging it, she eyed her cousin warily.

"Why are you so happy?" she asked bluntly.

Chloe sighed and came to sit next to Lois on the sofa.

"I'm nowhere near over Jimmy, but last night really helped. I just needed to cry myself out, I guess," she replied, though her eyes were guarded as she spoke.

"So you're fine now?" Lois asked cynically. Chloe nodded with enthusiasm.

"Chloe," Lois said, choosing her words carefully, "your marriage just ended. That's rough. It's okay to be sad about it, you know…"

"What's the point in moping around? It's not going to solve my problems. Seriously, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me," Chloe replied.

"Sure. I don't have to worry about you. I suppose next you're going to tell me Clark can fly," Lois replied sarcastically.

Chloe rolled her eyes and laughed.

"I know it may be hard for you to believe, but I really am fine. I appreciate you and Clark taking care of me last night," Chloe replied warmly.

Lois stood up suddenly, knocking her blanket to the ground.

"You mean to tell me that you just got dumped by the person you were going to spend the rest of your life with and you're _fine with that?_" Lois nearly yelled.

"Um… yes?"

_You have GOT to be kidding me. Smallville stands me up ONCE and I'm concocting a plan to basically ruin his life, and Jimmy dumps Chloe and just OVERNIGHT she's fine. Are you KIDDING._

Lois settled for shaking her head and hugging Chloe.

"Well, as long as you're happy… by the way, Jimmy's a jerk. I'm planning his murder as we speak."

_Well, I'm planning something…_

"Oh, don't kill him. Let me do that on our anniversary or something," Chloe replied good-naturedly. Lois sighed.

"So… what does Clark think?" Chloe asked after a minute.

Lois opened her mouth angrily, ready to spill Clark's traitorous guts all over her cheap IKEA living room rug, purely so that she could watch him squirm later. Chloe looked at her expectantly, her face falling as the seconds ticked by. Lois closed her mouth and took a good look at her cousin – upon closer inspection, it was true that her hair was brushed, the splotches removed, and nose not clownlike anymore, but the dark circles stubbornly remained under her curious, solemn eyes. She must not have gotten more than two hours of sleep last night. Leave it to Chloe to try to cover her grief up. Lois just couldn't cause her cousin to go through any more pain than she already was.

"We didn't really talk about it, Chlo. He pretty much bolted right after he helped me get you into bed," she said, finally.

"Things between you awkward again?" Chloe asked sympathetically.

_STOP FEELING SORRY FOR ME! YOUR HUSBAND JUST LEFT YOU FOR GOD'S SAKE!_

"No, I just think he didn't want me to start yelling at him again. Which reminds me, I have a certain crash to tell you about…"

*

"Thanks," Clark said sourly, snapping his phone shut and setting it on his desk.

"What for?" Lois asked innocently.

"You just HAD to tell Chloe, didn't you? Couldn't leave it to me?"

Lois smiled mischievously and strutted over to the coffee maker, making sure to sashay just enough to turn heads.

_It would be really nice if someone could just hit on me right about now…_ Lois thought to herself, feeling like an idiot. She didn't look back to see the look on Clark's face, but she could just picture it – confused and a little guilty after he realized that he was staring. He might have stood her up, but Lois was fully aware of just how into her Clark was, in _that_ respect.

Unsurprisingly, Clark's angry footsteps were behind her a second or two later.

"Did you tell her what I said about Jimmy?" he demanded. Lois felt her temper flare up again.

"What if I did? Are you going to lie to her if she asks your opinion?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she turned to face him. Guilt flashed onto Clark's face, chased by defiance.

"No," he replied stubbornly, "I'm going to tell her the truth."

Lois raised her eyebrows.

"Well, part of it, anyway…" he trailed off guiltily.

"Huh. Who'da thunk, farmboy can lie! I have to admit I'm disappointed in you, Clark. I thought you were better than that…"

"I'm not going to lie! I'm just going to avoid the subject of Jimmy all together. If she doesn't want to bring it up, I won't make her."

"And if she asks you?"

"She won't. We both know that she's not as happy as she's trying to convince us she is," Clark retorted.

Lois sighed and looked up at him before nodding in grim agreement.

"When I woke up yesterday morning, she was cooking bacon for me and back to her bright-eyed, cheery self. I don't buy it," Lois replied, narrowing her eyes.

Clark looked down at his feet for a moment before coughing and scratching the back of his head as he squeaked, "Did you, uh… tell her about…"

"There's nothing to tell," Lois said sweetly, turning her back to him as she filled her cup of coffee.

"Lois," Clark said after a moment. She gave a good, long sigh before strutting past him back to her desk.

"Could you hand me that stapler, Smallville? At least _one_ of us should be productive today," she asked. Clark looked at her for a second before deciding that it was best not to argue and handed her the stapler that they had continually passed back and forth so frequently that neither of them knew whose it was in the first place.

*

Clark just didn't know what to do.

It's not as if he _wanted_ to stand her up. In fact, it was the opposite of what he wanted.

What he _wanted_ was to grab her, shake her (not too hard, mind you), and somehow get her to realize that there was nothing he wanted more than to be just like every other person on the planet and be able to have a coffee with the woman he was pretty sure he was in love with.

_Hey Lois, just so you know, I wasn't really swamped with work. I was actually right there, but I couldn't have coffee with you because I'm the Red-Blue Blur and I know that if we get involved it will just end in tragedy. Oh, and by the way, I think I love you._

Yes, he was sure that would go over fabulously.

Clark sighed and sat back down at his desk, chancing a look at the object of his thoughts as often as he could without her noticing. Every so often their eyes would meet, and he would feel his face grow hot and he would avert his gaze once more. He could picture the smirk on her face perfectly.

Hi sighed. When was this going to end…?

* * *

**I don't plan on doing Clark's POV very often, but I thought that his thoughts were necessary to give this chapter some closure. What do you guys think, is he at least somewhat in character? **

**Next chapter will cover Hex. I have a rough outline of the next 3 chapters, and then it will depend on the content of Stiletto. ((Who else is MEGA-excited? Lois looks absolutely ridiculous in that outfit, in my opinion. Come on. A mask? XD But her turning around and just going "Clark?" and the face fall makes me very very anxious. Plus, I read a spoiler that said that there would be a moment in Stiletto that woud "make the Cloisers forgive the season." Woo!))**

**Oh, and I would love to find out who's side you guys are taking in the Jimmy-Chloe-Davis debate. Me? I agree with Clark -- Jimmy wasn't completely wrong (but neither was Chloe), and Davis is a douche. Kinda. =D He's still too adorable for words, though.**

**Right, enough of my rambling! It's getting the way of your reviewing time :D *hint hint***


	7. What Hurts the Most

**Hi everyone! First of all, let me apologize for how long it took me to get this up -- but, I hope that the length of this chapter makes up for it! Also, I didn't really write much of hysterial Chlois moments into this chapter purely because I didn't really want to do Chloe's point of view. Don't get me wrong, I still love Chloe and my not writing her point of view has nothing to do with her. It's just that I tried Clark's point of view again along with the majority of it of course being Lois, and I don't like having more than two POVs in one chapter. I just think it gets too confusing. =D Hopefull you all still like the chapter. It took me longer to write than I thought!**

**Thanks again to all of my wonderful reviewers. You guys give my muse the kick she needs to get me to get off my ass and post already XD Also, no one guessed that Imogen Heap (again) was the artist for last chapter. The Walk is probably my second or third Imogen Heap song, and I'm a bit disappointed that nobody guessed :( But I'm not complaining; I still love you guys for even bothering to review. I'm not going to bother to ask if anyone knows this chapter's title artist, because seriously? Who hasn't heard this song? XD**

**Right, enough rambling. Enjoy my Hex chapter!**

* * *

_I'm going to kill him. And before I kill him, I'm going to torture him with those methods the General used to scare me and Lucy with when we didn't want to go to bed on time. And then, I'm going to find some meteor freak that can bring the dead back to life just so I can revive him and then kill him again._

Lois Lane was not a happy camper.

She knew he wasn't going to be there, but she thought that even after all that had happened recently, he would have the decency to show up to Chloe's birthday party.

He _was_ still her husband, after all.

Well. At least until the papers were finalized.

She looked for Chloe through the crowd and saw her talking to Oliver – best not to interrupt. It looked like he was trying to cheer her up, and god knew he would have a better time of it than she would. She glanced down at her phone and meandered through her contacts, lingering for much longer at a name in the C's than she should have. She wasn't going to call him. She wasn't going to call him. She wasn't going to call him.

Wait. He would _want_ to know what was going on at Chloe's party, right? And Lois knew that he was disappointed that he wasn't going to be there. It wasn't a sign of weakness to call him; it was being a good friend.

Lois guiltily pressed #1 for speedial and waited with bated breath through the dial tone.

_Hi, you've reached Clark Kent. Leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. _

_Beep._

"Smallville, I know you're chasing a story, but I thought I'd let you know about Chloe's par-"

"Lois?CanIcallyoubackinliketwoseconds?Kaythanksbye," Clark interrupted, obviously not bothering to breathe. The line went dead, regardless, Lois replied in surprise, "Yeah, sure, Smallville…?"

No more than a second had gone by from when Lois hit the "end" button that Tess' name popped up on her screen. She grimaced, took a deep breath, and answered with a blatantly fake, "Hi, boss. What's up?"

"Congratulations, Lane. You just got the Mexico worker's revolt story. Your plane leaves in two hours. Chop chop! And no, I am not letting you drink from the mini-bar again. You're stuck fighting with shampoo. Do you realize that you racked up a $178 fee for the last-"

"Whoa, Tess. No can do. It's my cousin's birthday party tonight, and she's already missing her husband and her best friend. I can't do that to her," Lois interrupted.

There was a fierce silence from the other end of the phone.

"Lane, you're going to New Mexico. Tonight. I'm sure your cousin is upset, but aren't you the one that's always barking 'do whatever it takes to get the story' to Kent?"

"Yes… but-"

"First-class plane seats?"

"Tess, I'm not-"

"I'll let you drink from the mini-bar."

"Done."

_Oliver should be able to cheer her up much more than I can… I'll probably just make it worse anyway…_

Guilt still seeped into the back of her mind, predictable and persistent.

"Great. I expect you to be on the 10:15 flight to Mexico."

Lois muttered a quick affirmative and ended the call. She meekly walked up to Chloe, who rearranged her features into cheer instead of the melancholy visage she had maintained throughout the party when she thought no one was looking. Her phone buzzed in her hand and she glanced down to see Clark's name flashing on the screen. Unbelievably, she broke out into an excited smile.

_Awesome, self. Just awesome._

She rushed through telling Chloe about her predicament, squeezing her tightly. She could tell that Chloe was disappointed, but knew that there was really nothing she could do – and if she stayed any longer, she would only get more and more drunk and end up making another speech similar to her infamous slurring of her disapproval of Jimmy at their engagement party. She looked back once on her way out and saw that somewhat creepy magician girl talking to Chloe. Maybe she would be able to cheer her up. Hopefully.

Speaking of being cheered up, Lois' phone buzzed once again – Clark.

"Hey Smallville, what's up?"

"You called?" he asked, obviously confused. Lois smirked – she could see the bemused smile on his face.

"Yeah, just thought I would let you know how Chloe's party is going. Although I think I just made it a little bit worse…"

"Imagine that."

"Shut it, farmboy. She's kinda depressed, and I just got called to do a story in Mexico. I'm on my way to the airport now."

"…You left her alone?" he asked, succeeding in making the shame rip through her soul. Her temper indignantly followed.

"Who are _you_ to be guilting _me_, Clark? You did the exact same thing – and you're her best friend!"

"At least I told her beforehand – I didn't just walk out in the middle of her party! Who else is there?" he demanded.

"Oliver! And he's doing a pretty good job of cheering her up; much better than I could do! We both know that I suck at that type of thing," Lois defended.

"This is true."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're extremely irritating?"

"I believe I've heard it around," he replied. Lois could hear the smile in his words. Before she could respond, she heard a loud CRASH through his end of the phone and he quickly said "Gottacallyouback!" before hanging up.

"Smallville? What the hell was-" she trailed off stupidly, realizing she was speaking to a dial tone.

She panicked all the way through the cab ride to her apartment and then to the airport and tried to call Clark three times before the adrenaline in her system stopped making her scalp prickle and she realized that she must look pathetic. For all she knew, he had just knocked something down and was trying to fix it.

_Wouldn't surprise me. Clumsy… but cute…_

Her mind zoomed down the gutter automatically and she jumped about a foot in the air when her phone buzzed in her lap. Clark, of course.

"Smallville, what the hell did you do?" she asked shakily, more out of the thought of being caught with her mind in the gutter about him than out of the mental panic she had just escaped.

"Just… knocked down a chair, is all. Nothing major."

Suspicion snuck into Lois' mind… Clark was a terrible liar.

"Smallville, I'm shocked. You, lying?"

"I'm not- Lois, I didn't-" he sputtered. Lois smiled, deciding that if it were something serious, he would have told her.

"Whatever, you klutz. I thought you were chasing a story, anyway…?"

Something about this statement must have been funny to Clark, because even though Lois knew that he was holding the phone away from his mouth, she could hear him snickering.

"Emphasis on the chasing," he replied when he brought the phone back up.

Lois felt it was best not to question this and rolled her eyes.

"I don't even think I want to know. Oh, crap. Gotta go, Smallville. I'm at the airport. See you later."

"Bye…" he said as she cut the line. She threw a $50 bill to the cab driver, thanked him, and lugged her suitcase into the expectedly crowded airport. It only took five minutes waiting in line for boredom to set in.

_I've already talked to him three times now. And twice was him calling me. All I'm doing is evening the score._

"Bored, Lois?" Clark asked, picking up halfway through the first ring. She could see the smirk.

"Hard to believe, I know."

"Not really," he replied smugly. There was an awkward silence while Lois moved exactly 2 steps up in line.

"If this line doesn't hurry up, I'm not going to make my flight…" she murmured, irritated.

"Then you might have to actually go back to Chloe's party," Clark mocked. Temper. Temper. Temper.

"You know what? At least I was there for a little! And Chloe may act all fun and happy, but she looked like she was about to cry every time I looked at her when she thought no one was watching!"

"And you left here like that."

"I'm on a story, Clark! Same as you! God, are you ever _not_ a judgemental prick?" Lois asked, gaining a scandalized look from a woman in front of her, who chose to go to the line next to theirs – dragging her toddler along with her.

_Oops._

"If I'm such a prick, why did you even call me?" Clark asked angrily.

"Good point," Lois sneered, hanging up on him. She simmered in silent fury for about three minutes, during which she got her ticket and was directed to her gate. Clark called her as she waited for the security check. She ignored the first one, earning a new voicemail.

"_Look, I'm sorry. I know that I'm being a hypocrite. Call me back,_" he pleaded in the voicemail. Lois felt a small smile break out on her face; quickly replaced by the shrieking of the metal detector.

"Watch where you stick that," she warned the timid-looking security guard. He gulped and held the wand a foot away from her body while he checked her. Predictably, it went off just as he was passing it over her crotch. Lois saw his eyebrows rise and instantly knew where his mind had just gone.

"Keys, you perv," she said, pulling them out of her pocket. He jumped and waved the next person through the line.

Lois smirked and called saw Clark calling, again.

"What?" she asked, dragging her luggage with her to the waiting area to board the plane.

"…Why do you sound happy?" he asked cautiously. Her mood instantly soured.

"Sorry, I forgot that you like me best completely antagonized. Want to yell at me some more for abandoning Chloe? How's your story going, by the way?"

"Alright, I deserve that. I was wrong," he replied guiltily.

"Wait wait wait… rewind. Clark Kent, admitting that he was wrong?" Lois was enjoying herself just a bit more than she needed to.

"Yes," he said sullenly.

She closed her eyes and was purposely silent.

_Three… Two… One…_

"…Lois?"

"Hang on, Smallville. I'm trying to ingrain this moment into my memory forever," she replied.

He sighed.

_ALL FIRST-CLASS PASSANGERS FOR FLIGHT 341, YOU MAY NOW ENTIRE THE PLANE. HAVE A PLEASANT FLIGHT._

"Crap, gotta go, Smallville. Up, up, and away."

"Alright… have a safe flight," he murmured in that infuriatingly soft voice. Lois froze, attempted to speak, but settled for ending the call.

_WHY does he have to go and act all concerned? This is not helping!_

She grated her teeth as she entered the plane and groaned when she saw her seat – yes, it was thankfully next to the window, but there was someone else sitting in the seat next to hers… a very enthusiastic someone, apparently. He was good-looking, with coppery hair and pale brown eyes. But he was no…

"Are you sitting here?" he asked warmly. Lois nodded and began to force her suitcase into upper storage.

"Let me help you with that," the man said, getting up hastily. Lois resisted the urge to glare and instead gave the suitcase one final shove. She turned, smiled, and said "no worries, I'm all taken care of, see?" in a sickly sweet voice. He smiled, missing the malice, and let Lois get into her seat.

"So, do you fly often?" he asked. Lois sighed inwardly.

"Yeah. I'm a reporter. Kinda comes with the territory."

"Oh, a reporter! Would I recognize any of your stuff?" he asked.

"Depends on if you've been living under a rock for the past two years. The name's Lois Lane," she replied. She couldn't help but brag. He _did_ ask, after all…

"Oh, wow! Imagine that, Lois Lane sitting next to me!"

_Okay, buddy… could you be any cheesier?_

"Funny little world, huh?" she asked as she dug through her purse for nothing in particular.

"So, what are you going to Mexico for? A new story? I promise I won't tell," he stage-whispered.

_Ugh._

The plane took off as Lois tried to figure out how to respond. She hadn't even noticed it was moving – irritation tended to take over the rest of her senses.

"Are you afraid of flying? Just so you know, chewing gum helps with the whole ear-popping thing," the man said helpfully.

"I know. I fly a lot, remember?" Lois replied tightly. "And I'm not scared of flying," she added stubbornly.

"Oh… right."

_Might as well take advantage of his silence…_

She reached for the phone in front of her, quickly dialing Clark's number. He picked up as the aggravating man next to her asked, "Who're you calling?"

Lois ignored him.

"Hey, Clark."

"Lois. Aren't you on the plane?" he asked, amused. She glanced pointedly over at her new best friend. He seemed to get the message, because he ducked out of his seat with an awkward "I'm just gonna… yeah."

Lois rubbed her temples as she heard Clark say "Who was that?" territorially.

"The guy I'm sitting next to. He makes me seem like one of those kids that are so traumatized that they forget how to speak."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

She could tell that Clark was struggling with something, because she could have sworn that she heard him start a sentence by stop himself before he could get the first word out. He sighed after a minute and settled with, "So… what are you two talking about?" He still couldn't completely hide the tiny hint of jealousy that seeped into his voice.

_Okay, WHAT is your DEAL. You stand me up, but then you get jealous. What. The. Hell._

She decided she didn't even want to get into it and just said, "I'm gonna try to grab a nap. I'll talk to you later, Smallville."

"Okay…?" he replied, obviously confused. She hung up.

This was going to be a long plane ride.

*

Two hours later, Lois was gripping her armrests with so much force that she was surprised they hadn't broken yet. This guy would just NOT SHUT UP. He had talked for nearly the entire plane ride, wanting to know if she liked her job, about her family, about her friends… about Clark. She dodged each subject with as much grace as she could, but he must have realized that he was getting her nerves when she snapped, "nobody," after his question of "so, who's Clark?"

The wheels touched the ground and skidded slightly. As soon as the plane was immobile, the passengers broke out into applause.

"Thank _God_…" Lois muttered. She didn't know and didn't care if the man next to her (he had mentioned that his name was Sam at some point during his inquisition) heard her.

"So, do you want to grab coffee or something? I know the area pretty well-"

"Actually, you know what? I'm just going to go check into a hotel. I'm pretty tired," Lois interrupted, grabbing her suitcase with more force than necessary and narrowly missing Sam's head when she swung it to the ground.

"Oh… okay… Well, it was nice to meet you," he replied miserably. Lois just waved over her shoulder and practically ran off the plane. She turned her phone back on and was unsurprised to see a text from Clark.

**Just wanted to make sure you got off the plane okay. Did motormouth ever leave you alone? :) **

She sighed and decided to call him rather than text. Why the hell not, right? He answered on the third ring, sounding somewhat out of breath.

"Lois? Hey, how was your flight?"

"It crashed."

Beat.

"…Really?"

"NO! You are so gullible, Smallville," Lois laughed. He chuckled shakily.

"Right. Yeah. Of course it didn't crash. How's your new best friend?" he asked smugly.

Lois sighed into the phone. She could hear Clark grinning.

"Shut it. I have to go; there's a cab pulling up for me," Lois replied.

"Alright. Talk to you later. Good luck with your story!"

"Same to you."

"Huh…? Oh, right. Thanks," he said hastily. They said "bye" in unison and Lois climbed into the cab.

"The closest hotel with a mini-bar. Thanks," she said appreciatively to the driver, who nodded and sped into the hectic airport traffic.

*

"You haven't insulted me once yet today. And you actually crossed at the crosswalk. Did Jeff not bring you your coffee today?"

Clark's eyebrows knitted in confusion. What was _up_ with Lois today? She hadn't snapped at him, was actually following rules… There was something wrong, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Uh… let's just say I rolled out of bed on the right side-"

_Lois. Bed. STOP!_

"-It's amazing how much more you can see with fresh eyes. So, anything else you want to tell m-"

She tripped, and Clark instinctively threw his arms out to catch her. Again. Not that he minded…

_Wow…_

He wasn't sure how long he had been staring into her eyes when he realized that her expression was quizzical. He took a breath to steady his voice.

"Wh…What's the look for?"

Her eyebrows pulled together in an expression he knew meant that she had figured something out but wasn't quite sure if she believed it yet.

"You just never looked at me like that before…"

A flashing red light went off in Clark's head, coupled with the phrase _oh crap oh crap oh CRAP…_

He awkwardly put her back on her feet, then realized something. Now _way_ Lois would say anything like that… it would be more of a "what the hell, Clark?"

"There's our story calling…" he mumbled, gesturing to the man shouting on the balcony a few feet away from them. She nodded and continued on closer to the crowd of people, leaving him standing there.

That one little observation scared him far more than in should have.

_I made this decision so she wouldn't get hurt. But if she figures out how I feel… I wonder how transparent I've really been. _

It's not as if he could help it. He may have been superhuman, but he certainly had human selfishness. Especially when it came to Lois.

He shook his head and followed her into the mass of people.

*

Lois plopped down in her seat before closing her eyes slowly. It had been a long weekend of interviewing angry worker after angry worker, nearly all of them needing a translator. She had nearly called Clark at least ten times, but stopped herself each time, telling herself that it would not help her effort to get over him. Which she desperately needed to do, for her own sanity. She sighed, watching people file into the plane slowly. It wouldn't take off for another fifteen minutes. Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Chloe's name flashed on the screen.

"Hey, Chlo. What's up?" she asked, concerned. She hadn't bought for a second that everything was okay with that frantic call she got from her cousin on Saturday. She even tried calling her a couple times on Saturday night, but Chloe hadn't picked up.

"A lot, actually. You remember that creepy magician lady at my party…?" Chloe asked, obviously troubled with something.

"Yeah?"

"Well… after you left, she gave me this cupcake and told me to make a wish. Now, please _please_ do not take this the wrong way, but… well, I woke up in your body."

Lois wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

"…Lois? Still there?"

"Uh, yeah. Just… why did you wish yourself into me?" Lois asked, dreading the answer. Her fears were confirmed with Chloe's reply.

"Again, please don't take this the wrong way. I guess I was just a little… jealous… of you living my once-dream job of the famous reporter with Clark at your side…"

"Chloe…" Lois started, uncertain with how to proceed. She had an inkling that Chloe was a bit envious of her, but hadn't realized it had been so bad.

"Trust me, I am _fine_ now. Basically, I lived your life for a bit… and I wasn't very good at it," Chloe replied, laughing a bit.

"Wow. How long did it take everyone to realize that I had suddenly gotten much nicer?"

"Actually, much longer than I thought. I had to _tell_ Clark."

Lois narrowed her eyes. Here she was, thinking that Clark, if not anything else, at least knew her as well as she knew him. But to be fooled by Chloe? Lois could feel the bitter depression creeping up inside of her. She wasn't going to pretend _that_ didn't hurt.

Chloe must have sensed her cousin's silent struggle, because she added "but I did find out something that I think you should know," hastily.

"What?" Lois asked, trying to put life into her voice.

"You remember 'Lois Lane's Rules of Reporting'?" Chloe asked. Lois could tell she was smirking.

"How do you know about those? I wrote them down for Clark on his first day," Lois replied, blushing slightly. Her heart gave a painful throb at the thought.

"Because he has them, and showed me when he thought I was you. He FRAMED them, Lois. They're sitting in his desk. And by the way, you spelled 'beginning' wrong."

_He framed them? Why…?_

"He did what now?"

"I know. I would say I can't believe it, but… I kinda can. A weekend in the life of Lois Lane has certainly given me an all new perspective on Clark Kent. I think he may like you a bit more than you think," Chloe replied, obviously grinning.

Without warning, Lois' temper flared up again.

_I can't take this anymore. He stands me up, but now he suddenly cares. Does he honestly think that I'm so pathetic that I'm just going to sit around and wait for him, even though I'm still obviously second place? And how could he not have realized that I wasn't myself?_

"Well he can just deal. He lost his chance," Lois said harshly.

"…What? Lois, I don't know if you're-" Chloe stammered. She had clearly not expected this reaction.

"I'm serious. He had his chance and he blew it."

"Lois, this is _Clark_ we're talking ab-"

"I'm not going to sit around and wait for any guy, no matter who he is!"

There was a stunned silence from the other side of the phone. Lois could feel her eyes welling up but refused to cry, especially here. She just wouldn't.

"I gotta go, Chlo. The plane's about to lift off and I can't be on my phone," Lois said finally, breaking the silence.

"…Alright. We'll talk about this later?"

_I wouldn't bet on it._

"Sure. Gotta go. Love you, bye," Lois said hurriedly before hanging up. She simmered, shaking her head violently.

_I cannot _believe _the arrogance of that big, dumb-_

"Um, excuse me. I think you're in my seat. Sorry."

Lois looked up from her internal rant and saw an intensely attractive man gesturing to the seat she was sitting in. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes that, at the moment, were focused on her own.

"Oh, really? Sorry… yeah, you're right. I'm the next one over," Lois replied, looking at her ticket before picking up her purse and shifting to the next seat.

"It's okay. I'm Brian, by the way. What's your name?"

Lois answered him and spent nearly the entire flight in casual conversation with him. He was funny, easygoing, and _hot. _The kind of guy that she knew she could have a good time with. She wasn't surprised when he asked her to dinner and accepted without hesitating. It would have been the perfect end to an exhausting weekend… if Clark hadn't been in her head the entire time she was talking to him.

*

_Squeak. Squeak. Squeak._

She smirked, knowing that it was only a matter of time.

_Squeak. Squeak. Squeak. Squeak. Sque-_

"Is something on your mind, Lois?" he asked, obviously irritated. She smiled even wider, feeling like the Cheshire Cat.

"So, how long did it take for you to realize I wasn't my usual charming self?"

She watched him freeze and thought, _good._

"Well, I have to admit, I should have picked up on it sooner. You weren't as bossy as usual. And Chloe let me drive," he replied, giving her a sarcastic smile.

_Well, if he wants to be like _that…

"Little blonder sources tell me that you don't mind my assertive flair."

He froze in fright before sighing and looking up at her like a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

"Let me see it," she requested. He put on his best innocent face, which of course failed.

"Lois, I don't know what you're talking about…"

She studied him for a minute just to watch him squirm.

"You have a terrible poker face, Smallville," she said, standing up and watching him do the same. His eyes were alarmed, she was happy to see.

"Gimme gimme," she demanded, holding out her hands. He sighed and pulled the rules out of his desk slowly. She couldn't believe it. They really _were_ framed.

"Wow… who would have thought you were this sentimental?" she asked, feeling her icy exterior melt slightly. Well, we can't have that. "I think we should… hang it up, so that everyone can see it," she finished, enjoying herself more than she should have. He grabbed the rules out of her hands hastily, ruining her fun before she turned to face him.

"This is a momento, from my first day on the job. And a constant reminder that there's only one Lois Lane."

Her breath caught in her throat and she just couldn't help herself.

"You better believe it."

_Why does he have to make this so difficult? Why couldn't he have just shown up at the coffee shop? I hate this. I hate dancing in these stupid circles._

She shook her head and grabbed her purse.

"Big night?"

She knew it would hurt both of them, but she delivered her line anyway.

"Mm, yeah. This guy in first class asked me out, and I figured why the hell not, right?"

He made a pathetic little sound and shrugged his shoulders.

_This is what you wanted!_

"What about you? Big plans?"

He pounced on the question.

"Oh, I'm just gonna hang around here, you know, follow up on a few things. You want me to call you if anything comes on the wire to see if you're available?"

_Un-frickin'-believable._

"You mean if you want to stand me up again?"

Maybe it was the sudden anger that made her say it. She couldn't tell for sure.

_There, I said it. Yeah, I know you stood me up. 'Swamped at work' my ass. You just never know what you want. _

"Lois, that was-"

"A mistake. Agreed. Why don't we just table this whole 'office thrown together in the trenches sparks' thing, okay? Back to basics. Keep the game on the field," she interrupted, feeling her heart throb in protest.

The look on his face was heartbreaking, but she knew she couldn't go back now.

"Yeah, that's a good rule," he replied, not looking at all like he meant it. She felt her face fall as her one last hope was crushed by his soft sentence and smiled despite what she was sure were tears working their way up to her eyes.

"You should add that to the list."

She turned and walked away from him, not bothering to listen for the protest she knew wouldn't come.

* * *

**Oooh... the angst. XD **

**Told you it would be a longer chapter! Although, I'm still not sure if I love how this turned out. Clark's point of view was again too disjointed for my liking and didn't really flow right. I dunno. What do you guys think? (Hint hint nudge nudge.) **

**The ending scene was kind of difficult for me to write. I had two other versions I was contemplating putting up (all in Lois' POV), but I decided I liked this one best.**

**Please please please reveiw... And I might be able to get the next chapter up by Thursday as a consolation for another Smallville-lacking week. (Although it's still not a bad TV week for me; I get double Bones! Woo! Who else is excited? ^_^)**


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